Tai chi results in 5 daily minutes

Many of you have told me that doing the class once a week, with no other practice at all, has excellent results. I’ve heard about better sleep, less back pain, better posture and body comfort, more energy…

And yet, if you do even 5 minutes a day, steadily, every day, you can expect even better and more results.

The reason is this: when you do your tai chi (or anything physical or mental), two things are happening.

First you get the results from the moment – in tai chi, your circulation improves for a while. Your breathing deepens and the extra oxygen helps growth and repair speed up in your body. Your mind calms, and that changes your nervous system from a stress response to a relaxation response – which feels great, and lets your body work as it is intended to.

This is pretty useful, isn’t it? But there’s more.

The second thing happening is that you’re training your body and mind. You’re training them to do these things – improve circulation, breathing and calm – and to do them more easily and more deeply. Every time you go through these experiences, you ‘groove’ them a little more into your brain and your body, into your neurology.

That means, every time you do your practice, you get a little bit of extra benefit on top.

How much extra benefit you get depends on how frequently you practice. Your mind and body like to learn fast – if I show you a new tai chi movement one month, and again the next month, and again 2 months later, you’ll probably find it hard to remember the details. If I show it to you one morning, and again that evening, and then twice more the next day, and again the next,… you’ll soon have it by heart, even if you never formally ‘learn’ it.

Practising your tai chi every day, even for a short while, gives your mind and body a real chance to groove the benefits in. And that means that the benefits get stronger and deeper. After a while, even thinking of your practice will set off a wonderful chain reaction. At this point, think of doing tai chi, and your circulation will be boosted, your breathing and mind will calm, you’ll be energised and ready for anything. Even in the middle of the most stressful day.

To start to reap these benefits, doing your tai chi for 5 minutes once a day is a good beginning. If you can do 5 minutes twice a day, you’ll see the difference. If you can find 20 minutes, so much the better.

And you probably can’t do too much. There are many stories from China in which people have recovered from terrible accidents, dangerous diseases and deep misfortune and unhappiness by doing tai chi and qigong for 2 – 6 hours a day.

When will you do your next practice?

 

This post was first sent as part of the newsletter for past and present class members, and published on May 13, 2014.